What's the state of the so-called "sneakers scene" in Germany?
As i'm born, raised and still living in Berlin my point of view is mainly focused on "my" city. We have quite a big scene of sneaker maniacs here. but I have good connections to heads from all over germany, like hamburg, cologne, munich and stuttgart, where they have regular sneaker meetings, too. Just last Sunday more than 1500 people showed up at the 6th Berlin solemart. I guess it's like everywhere - during the cold months it's more slow motion and in the summertime it's getting hectic again.

when did you start collecting sneakers?
I always had my eyes on sneaks, even before you could name it collecting. There was always a certain kind of attraction forcing me to look after what the older guys were wearing while writing graffiti or skating. But things got "serious" from about '93.

Did your passion became a job over the years? we know that now you are working for sneakers mag in Germany.
If a passion becomes a job you have to be very careful not to fuck it up and loose the fun. So I would just say I do my thing. I’m member of the Turnschuhzuhälter which is a group of 4 friends showcasing, buying and selling sneaks at the usual sneaker fairs and trade shows like SNEAKERNESS, solemart and bread&butter. So there is a little biz behind it, but it's mostly for coming around and get to know people from all over the globe. Beside that I'm down with the german SNEAKERS magazine for a while now which is a great opportunity for me to do as I said before. Just right now I'm sitting in a plane on my way to Paris to meet and interview our friends and great Nike collectors the malawi brothers edy & david while answering your questions.

can you tell me something about this magazine.
The mag is been around for three and a half years now. After some little struggle in the beginning we formed up a very good team of sneaker enthusiasts, editors and photographs and in my eyes present a very good magazine now! What really speaks for us is that we have into deep content as well as unbeatable picture series and always an ear the the streets, as most of the team is really into it.

We know that there is SNEAKERSFREAKER the german version, are you competitor with them?
As I always was a reader of the international version of the mag I do like the german version, too being very close to the OG. Of course both mags serve the same readers and market, so there is some overlapping from time to time. But I wouldn’t call it competition, it’s more coexistence, which works out good for both of the mags I think.

Do you buy and sell sneakers for profit on a daily basis?
No, I'm just BUYING them on a daily basis for my own ruin!

can you tell your best three models?
That's a hard one! I already answered this question lots of times, but always different.
Right now i’m in the mood for:
Nike Air Trainer 1, ADIDAS Rivalry and Puma Suede. But this is just to Name 3, my top notch list is long and varies from time to time.

Who was your best sport player like Ivan lendl, Jordan ...Agassi?
stylewise I have to clearly answer this with Shaun Palmer. He has no big connection to sneaks accept vans but is and always was my all time hero when it comes to attitude. Sneakerwise I’d name John McEnroe because of his AT1s and the Mac attacks and his bad boy style, too.

How many pairs do you own?
I can’t tell you no exact number but as I always say: it's just numbers! You can have 1000+ kicks in the closet and your collection is still wack because it has no soul. Or you could have a decent little number of diamonds only and burn away everything. If you have both than you must be one of the malawi brothers.

Did you find all your staff in Germany?
I found some nice things over the years in Germany for sure, but of course not everything! I digged in the USA, the UK, all over Europe and some in asia.

Did you ebay, rakuten....?
I signed in with eBay 1999 and did a lot of good deals selling and buying of all kind of styles worldwide. Even before eBay showed up I was into some american websides from back than like “wanted in japan”. It was like heaven to have access to vintage sources all of a sudden which you have only dreamed of before. But the Internet has a dark side, too. Don't get me wrong, I don't wanna sound bitter, but I just recently spoke to one of my old friends about that and he said: “remembering the times when we couldn’t wait to come to our local sneaker shop called „mad flavor“ to see the latest arrivals from NYC? or how we did on our trips trough europe? - Never looking in the traveling guide for sights but in the yellow pages for sneakerstore to hunt down leftovers? Today everything is just a click away, where’s the spirit?”

What's the model you'll never part with, ever?
as my style changes with my points of view over the years I sometimes think different now of shoes I couldn't stand before. Never say never, but i’m no fan of super high tops and I hate gum soles. Most of the OG styles I digg are pre 90.

Speaking of nostalgia, what were your favorite sneakers during your teenage years?
my earliest memory about a certain model is little Tony forcing his aunt and uncle to buy him a pair of ADIDAS allround black stripes on white high top early 80s modern talking style. I can remember it like yesterday. Later on I was crazy about chucks, airwalks, vision street wear and than came back to the classic brands like nike, adidas and converse when they became cool for skating.

What's your favorite sneakers brand right now? or Do you have just one brand that you like?
That's another hard one. I have a very good relationship with Nike and to tell from the number of must have output they are Nr.1 to me. And although my main focus is on Nike, ADIDAS, Puma and Converse I was never limited on those brands only! If the style of a shoe sticks to me I don't care if it's pony, le coq, asics, reebok, kangaroos, karhu, NB, supra or what ever.

What was the one-and-only unmissable sneaker from the last 12 months?
i was pretty lucky to get my hands on a pair of silver/blue Nike Nightracks from the Colette Aniverary in me size and I really like the Adidas Consortium all white Pro Shells

What do you thing about remakes sneakers?
I kinda changed my mind on this term, too. Before I was die hard vintage only. Mostly because the retros fucking up the prices on the OG market. But there are good sites about the remakes like bringing some new fresh color to a classic model which gives the old school a new shine.
And of course they give me the possibility to wear some of my favorite modells from 87-90 which are not wearable in the OG version.

What do you think about the future of the sneakers
There will be the same ups and downs like in the last 20 years I’m participating in this hustle. With new styles coming and going, some cool some ugly. But i keep it with Bob Marley: „In this bright future you can’t forget your past“- because there is nothing more sexy than a pair of fresh OGs straight out the box!

What about the new performance shoes by Nike "flyknit"
I like the shape of the shoes and the look of the material but can’t say nothing about the feel or performance because i haven’t tried them so far. In my eyes a sneaker has to be good looking, nothing more nothing less. If it’s comfy, too – even better! If it’s not – I don’t care as long as it’s good looking!